Since we stopped development the usage went down slowly but steadily. Yet, the distribution between mobile and desktop users didn’t change much – AppRaisin is still de-facto mobile-first app even though Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform is not really an active thing anymore. We tried to maintain and moderate the service for as long as it provided value for the community and wasn’t a big strain for us. In recent months it just doesn’t feel like we are providing an adequately sized value for the effort.

Even though our efforts were limited in recent years, AppRaisin managed to maintain a 4.8-star rating in the Store which means that many people still find value in it that the official Microsoft Store and 3rd party websites can’t satisfy. So, while this decision was on our minds for more than a year now, we knew that it will upset some people and just couldn’t find the courage to pull the plug. It’s time though…

I would like to thank everyone who worked on AppRaisin over the years, everyone who used the app, submitted and upvoted app news, rated it in the store and provided valuable feedback, every developer who made great apps that enabled AppRaisin to have content, and every person and media outlet who helped us spread the word about our little project.

Most likely you’ve heard about the horrific attack in New Zealand that took lives of 50 people. Despite being a horrible event in and of itself it hit us much closer to home than we may have ever expected.

Our friend and partner Atta Elayyan who designed the whole user experience of AppRaisin, and created such classic Windows and Windows Phone apps like MetroTube and Tweetro was killed in the attack.

I remember meeting Atta and Mike at Build 2012. They embodied what I consider to be the quintessential indie developers – super talented humble geeks who developed beautiful experiences, yet remembered to pay attention to the business side as well. They stood there in their MetroTube t-shirts and hats that invited other people to start the conversation – a brilliant introvert move. As an awkward shy introvert myself, I passed them a few times until I finally found the courage to approach and talk to them.

When in 2015 we came up with the idea for AppRaisin and realized that we don’t have the necessary design expertise, I knew exactly who I would want to do it, provided they were available and we can afford it. Luckily, the stars aligned and some months later AppRaisin has seen the light of day. Once the initial design and development phase was over, we brought all of it in-house but I was sure we will work with Atta again…

Unfortunately, this will never happen. This opportunity was taken from us, but our loss doesn’t even begin to compare with what Atta’s family is going through.

Happy New Year! Now that 2016 is behind us, it is a perfect time to take a look at the best Windows 10 apps of the last year. There are numerous ways to compile Top-10 app charts: you can rank apps by downloads, by revenue or by subjective criteria of a specific person. What we decided to do is none of these: we thought we’ll get you a top-10 by the interest app news generated on AppRaisin.

So, without further ado, here are the apps that attracted the most attention from the AppRaisin community…

#5 Instagram

#4 ProShot

Legendary 3rd party Windows Phone camera app ProShot has finally landed on Windows 10 (including PCs) and was met with enthusiasm by the users.

#3 Facebook

Facebook’s title app got a major update along with it’s “sister” apps (Messenger and Instagram) and, even though some dislike it’s “foreign” design language, it is closest to feature parity Windows apps have ever been with their iOS/Android versions.

#2 VLC

#1 Vinci

Remember when Prisma was all the rage on the internet? This was the highest (lowest?) point of “app envy” for Windows phone users in 2016. But a different app came to the rescue. This app is called Vinci and it was the most welcome app news of 2016 according to AppRaisin community. Congratulations!

AccuWeather is a free weather app was designed for Windows 10 users. It has provides the latest weather news and information, including MinuteCast, the leading minute-by-minute forecast that is hyper-localized to your exact street address. Get the app here.

Gamers’ Pick of the Week:

Storm of Wars brings real-time strategy combats to a kingdom building war game. It features fast-paced combat in cities and epic real-time wars on the world map that impact game play and strategy in fun, unexpected ways. Get the game here.

RealmCraft is a sandbox construction game with 3D world. Create and break apart various kinds of blocks, explore the environment in Minecraft style, gather resources, craft weapons, build shelter and take part in combat with dangerous opponents. Get the game here.

AppRaisin App Picks of the Week

Plex is your video, music, and photo collection organizer that gives you an instant access to your personal media on all of your devices and enables you to easily share it with friends and family. Get the app here.

Gamers’ Pick of the Week

Target your guns and command your soldiers. Assemble the mightiest artillery force and bombard your foes into oblivion and lead the Empire State offensive against Traitor General and his foul rebellion. Get the game here.

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Help us bring AppRaisin to local communities across the globe!

We are still running the crowdfunding campaign on AppStretch to create the foundation for multilingual AppRaisin and launch our first localization. If English is not your first language and you would like to see Windows app enthusiast communities sprung up across the world, please, pledge your support on AppStretch and spread the word on social media. Click here for more information.

It is very important to use combined marketing strategies to gain new users for your apps and games. So from now on you are able to use your AdDuplex balance to promote your app on AppRaisin too.

AppRaisin is a leading source of news, updates, deals and discoveries for Windows Store apps and games. And you can boost your app downloads by putting your app on AppRaisin Spotlight, on top of all the hottest Windows Store app news.

Simply go to AdDuplex client area and submit your app for AppRaisin Spotlight. Note that, if approved, the funds will be automatically deducted from your AdDuplex balance.

And for those who still doesn’t have any credits on AdDuplex account – here are few easy steps to get your news in the Spotlight :

Post a news about your App or Game on AppRaisin;

Press “Promote” from within the news article;

Choose a period your news will be promoted in Spotlight;

Pay via Windows Store In-App purchases;

Your news will be promoted in Spotlight for a selected period of time.

Promote your apps now! Submit it for AppRaisin Spotlight on AdDuplex or download AppRaisin app and share some hot news about your apps and games.

Another great way to spice up your photo and video album is Gif Me! app. It is the best way to create and share short video in animated GIF or MP4. And you can apply an image filter too. Get the app here.

Gamers’ Pick of the Week

Are you bored? Enter the squirrel! Defy the kitsune samurai who have stolen your clan’s sacred acorns. Sneak through beautifully hand-painted landscapes, avoid capture by the guards, and snatch victory from your enemies. Get the game here.

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Help us bring AppRaisin to local communities across the globe!

We are still running the crowdfunding campaign on AppStretch to create the foundation for multilingual AppRaisin and launch our first localization. If English is not your first language and you would like to see Windows app enthusiast communities sprung up across the world, please, pledge your support on AppStretch and spread the word on social media. Click here for more information.

Monument Browser is a tool to navigate in multiple sites. The app has native support for background downloads that may help download large files while doing other things in your phone. Level up your productivity. Get the app here.

Saavn is unlimited, free access to all your favorite music – anywhere, anytime. Saavn’s catalog includes millions of tracks across Bollywood, English, Hindi, and Indian regional music. Get the app here.

Gamers’ Pick of the Week

A multi-platform dice game – Yatzy Ultimate now available to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile users as a Universal Windows Platform app. So you can play it from anywhere at any time. Get the game here.

We have launched a crowdfunding campaign on AppStretch to create the foundation for multilingual AppRaisin and launch our first localization. If English is not your first language and you would like to see Windows app enthusiast communities sprung up across the world, please, pledge your support on AppStretch and spread the word on social media. Click here for more information.

Yesterday I’ve published a rather lengthy post on why we can’t commit to full-scale development of AppRaisin anymore. That doesn’t mean the app is going anywhere. It is as alive as ever and will continue to be around for as long as it delivers value to the community and is affordable to maintain for us.

Having said that, we have a bunch of things we wanted to do in our backlog and over 60 feature requests on AppStretch. We would love to implement all the ideas that make sense, but we don’t have a budget for it anymore. So, we need you, dear Windows enthusiast, to make things happen.

Our early vision was to build AppRaisin as a global (English) app and game news platform first and launch localized versions later on. We would like to make this vision a reality with your help.

We have launched a crowdfunding campaign on AppStretch to create the foundation for multilingual AppRaisin and launch our first localization. If English is not your first language and you would like to see Windows app enthusiast communities sprung up across the world, please, pledge your support on AppStretch and spread the word on social media.